Emergency IT Lesson 1 Figurative Language

It's time to walk down that old dusty lane of ours to remind ourselves of our innocence. I've chosen a poem from an poet(of course!) - Walt Whitman - to tell us about his perspective of school. So just take a look at it. Seriously, it is meaningful to read.

Old Man's Thought of School

An old man’s thought of School;
An old man, gathering youthful memories and blooms, that youth itself cannot.

Now only do I know you!
O fair auroral skies! O morning dew upon the grass!

And these I see—these sparkling eyes,
These stores of mystic meaning—these young lives,
Building, equipping, like a fleet of ships—immortal ships!
Soon to sail out over the measureless seas,
On the Soul’s voyage.

Only a lot of boys and girls?
Only the tiresome spelling, writing, ciphering classes?
Only a Public School?

Ah more—infinitely more;
(As George Fox rais’d his warning cry, “Is it this pile of brick and
mortar—these dead floors, windows, rails—you call the church?
Why this is not the church at all—the Church is living, ever living Souls.”)

And you, America,
Cast you the real reckoning for your present?
The lights and shadows of your future—good or evil?
To girlhood, boyhood look—the Teacher and the School.

To the boring part, figuring out the figurative language encompassed in this confusing poem. Figurative language IS NOT MEANT TO BE TAKEN LITERALLY.
As you know, this poem generally tells us about school from an "old man"'s view. It could be that Walt Whitman is really an octogenarian or he is just using a hyperbole (it's pronounced as hy-per-ber-ly) which is another word for exaggeration.
Another trait of this poem is the usage of similies. Why? The children are compared to "immortal ships" which require "building" and "equipping" with a keyword - "like". Similies make use of the word "like" or "as". Without this, the sentence will be a metaphor. When Walt Whitman exclaims "And you, America", he is regarding America as a person without using "like" or "as". Thus, it is a metaphor. It probably suggests that children require knowledge and skills which will be achieved when they "sail out over the measureless seas", which suggests their learning journey. In this whole stanza, symbolism is achieved by using a representative figure to carry additional meaning.
Personification is a method to give human traits to something. In this poem, personification is achieved when Walt Whitman claims that he finally "know(s) you(school)". Walt Whitman is giving human traits to the school by expressing that he finally knows the school.

Although this poem did not carry much meaning to me when I first read it, after thorough analysis of the poem, I started developing an interest for it. Why do I like it? Firstly, it brings to me the impression when I first entered school: “Only the tiresome spelling, writing, ciphering classes”. The poet does have the perspective of a child’s. Next, I like how the poet combined ships with children. He used different methods of figurative language, similes, metaphors and symbolism, all grouped into a stanza which brings a meaningful effect. Lastly, it emphasizes on a strong message that education is important for our future.